Self-draining housing and manway cover

ABSTRACT

A cover assembly for a manway in railway tank cars. The invention provides a cover pivotally mounted to a manway on a tank car so as to permit the cover to assume an open and closed position. The cover being of generally inverted U-shaped diametrical or rectangular cross section having a top portion and a side portion extending around the outer periphery of the top portion. The cover when in its closed position is located on one side of a vertical plane passing through the pivotal mounting and when in its opened position is located on the other side of the vertical plane. The cover includes an inner shell and an outer shell. The outer shell has a top portion and a side portion generally perpendicular to and disposed about the outer periphery of the top portion. The inner shell has a top portion substantially parallel to the outer shell top portion and a side portion having a lower section, located near the pivotal mounting, that inclines downward to the horizontal independent of the position of the cover, thereby preventing accumulation of liquid within the cover.

I United States Patent [72] inventor Fred Brown Chicago, Ill. 211 App]. No. 881,778 [22] Filed Bee. 3, 1969 [45] Patented Aug. 10, 1971 [73] 'Assignee Union Tank Car Company [54] SELF-DRAINING HOUSING AND MANWAY COVER 5 Claims, 2 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 220/31 [51] int. Cl. B5 d 4 3/ l 6 865d 51/10 [50] Field of Search 220/31, 85 1 132 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,237,000 4/1941 Gustareson 220/85 CH FOREIGN PATENTS 816,300 10/1951 Germany 220/32 Primary Examiner-George T. Hall Attorney-Charles M. Kaplan ABSTRACT: A cover assembly for a manway in railway tank cars. The invention provides a cover pivotally mounted to a manway on a tank car so as to pennit the cover to assume an open and closed position. The cover being of generally in verted U-shaped diametrical or rectangular cross section having a top portion and a side portion extending around the outer periphery of the top portion. The cover when in its closed position is located on one side of a vertical plane passing through the pivotal mounting and when in its opened position is located on the other side of the vertical plane. The cover includes an inner shell and an outer shell. The outer shell has a top portion and a side portion generally perpendicular to and disposed about the outer periphery of the top portion. The inner shell has a top portion substantially parallel to the outer shell top portion and a side portion having a lower section, located near the pivotal mounting, that inclines downward to the horizontal independent of the position of the cover, thereby preventing accumulation of liquid within the cover.

SELF-DRAINING HOUSING AND MANWAY COVER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a cover assembly for vessels, and more particularly to a cover assembly for a manway in railway tank cars and the like.

Railway tank cars are usually provided with a manway and a cover associated therewith. The cover is used to protect the valves and other parts on the manway and also to reduce the rate of heat transfer between the inside of the tank and'the atmosphere at themanway. It has been common practice to use a generally U-shaped manway cover having a top portion and a perpendicular side portion about the outer periphery of the top portion. Such cover designs accumulate water or liquid product when in an open position clue to the angle the side portion makes with the horizontal. Accumulation of liquids such as acids, etc., can be detrimental as it can destroy the cover and other parts of the manway, or be injurious to personnel. It has been the practice in the past to manually remove the accumulated liquid to prevent the above mentioned detrimental effects.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a cover for a vessel that is self-draining.

Another object is to provide a cover for the manway on a railway tank car that will cause liquids to completely drain away from the cover independent of the position of the cover.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cover for the manway on a railway tank car that will cause liquids to completely drain from the cover away from the manway independent of the position of the cover.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the drawing, specification, and claims.

Briefly stated, the invention provides a cover pivotally mounted to a manway on a tank car so as to permit the cover to assume an open position allowing access to the manway and a closed position preventing access to the manway. The cover being of generally inverted U-shaped diametrical or rectangular cross section having a top portion and a side portion extending around the outer periphery of the top portion. The cover when in its open position is disposed at an angle greater than 90 from the cover when in its closed position thereby facilitating access to the manway. The cover includes an inner shell and an outer shell. The outer shell has a top portion and a side portion generally perpendicular to and disposed about the outer periphery of the top portion. The inner shell has a top portion substantially parallel to the outer shell top portion and a side portion having a lower section, located near the pivotal mounting, that inclines downward to the horizontal independent of the position of the cover, thereby preventing accumulation of liquid within the cover.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The foregoing objects and features of the invention will be more fully appreciated in light of the following detailed description, with illustrative reference to the drawings, in which: 7

FIG. I is an elevation of an exemplary cover assembly in conjunction with a railway tank car constructed in accordance with the present invention, with the cover assembly being shown in a closed position in solid lines and in an open position shown in phantom lines; and

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional elevation of an exemplary cover assembly in accordance with the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. I, there is illustrated an exemplary cover assembly 10 constructed in accordance with the present invention. The cover assembly, as illustrated, is positioned to control access to manway opening of railway tank car ll.

' of vessel, and is not intended to be limited to the environmental context of a railway tank car.

Cover assembly 10 is pivotally connected to tank car body I] by horizontal pin 23 passing through apertures in arms 22 and 24. Arm 22 being rigidly attached to cover assembly 10 and arm 24 being rigidly attached to tank car body ll. A plurality of such pivotal connections may be provided for increased stability. As can be seen in FIG. 1, cover assembly 10 is located so as to permit it to assume a closed position preventing access to manway opening 15 (as shown in solid lines) and an open position allowing access to manway opening 15 (as indicated in phantom lines). Cover assembly 10 when in its closed position is located on one side of a vertical plane which passes through pin 23 and when in its open position is located on the other side of the vertical plane. Cover assembly 10 when in its opened position is further disposed at an angle greater than from the cover when in its closed position thereby allowing complete access to manway opening 15. A conventional handle 20 is provided to facilitate movement of cover assembly 10.

Cover assembly 10 includes generally inverted U-shaped, diametrical cross section, outer and inner shells, l2 and 16 respectively. The outer and inner shells may be of U-shaped rectangular cross section. Outer shell 12 consists of generally horizontal top portion 13 and side portion 14 generally perpendicular to and disposed about the outer periphery thereof. Inner shell 16 consists of generally horizontal top portion 17 and side portion 18, which makes an angle greater than 90 with the top portion, disposed about the outer periphery thereof. As can be seen in FIG. 2, inner shell 16 is disposed within, and spaced from, outer shell 12. The lower end 25 of side portion 14 being connected to the lower end 26 of side portion 18 by right angle member 27 or in any other conventional manner. Rubber gasket means (not illustrated) may be provided below right angle member 27 to insure a proper seal.

A lower section I9 of side portion I8, adjacent the pivotal axis through pin 23, is inclined so as to have a positive slope when the cover assembly is in the open position. FIG. I shows in phantom lines the lower section 19 inclined approximately 5 to the horizontal when the cover assembly is in a wide open position. This slope assures drainage of any liquid that would tend to accumulate. Cover assembly 10 is prevented from swinging past the position shown in phantom lines of FIG. 1 by outer shell 12 making contact with tank body ll. The same result may be attained by providing stop means (not illustrated) on arms 22 and 24. It should be noted that liquid draining from cover assembly 10 will not enter manway opening 15 but will merely flow onto tank car body 11.

The cover assembly as described above may be of insulated or noninsulated design. The chamber 30 formed between outer shell 12 and inner shell 16 may be filled with conventional heat insulating material to reduce the rate of heat transfer between the inside of the tank and the atmosphere at the manway.

In view of the foregoing, it should be apparent that the cover assembly disclosed herein provides a cover for the manway on a railway tank car that will cause liquids to completely drain away from the cover independent of the position of the cover. This is attained by a novel angular relationship of the interior structure of the cover assembly resulting in a positive slope in the area where liquid would tend to accumulate.

Although an embodiment constructed in accordance with the present invention has been described with the requisite particularity, the disclosure is, of course, only exemplary. Consequently, numerous changes in details of construction, in size, configuration, and arrangement of components and materials and in modes of application will be apparent to those familiar with the art and may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

What I claim is:

l. A cover assembly for a railway tank car comprising:

a. a tank having a manway therein;

a cover means pivotally mounted, about a substantially horizontal axis, to said tank so as to permit said cover means to assume an open position allowing access to said manway and a closed position preventing access to said manway;

. said cover means being of generally inverted U-shaped cross section having a top portion and a side portion extending around the outer periphery of said top portion;

d. said cover means when in said open position being disposed at an angle 90 or greater from said cover means when in said closed position; and

. said side portion having at least a portion having a positive slope when said cover means is in said open position thereby causing liquids to drain away from said cover means.

2. A cover assembly as in claim 1 wherein said cover means is positioned with respect to said opening so as to preven liquid from said cover means from entering said openingv 3. A cover assembly as in claim 1 wherein said cover means includes an inner shell and an outer shell; said outer shell having a top portion and a side portion generally perpendicular to and disposed about the outer periphery of said top portion; said inner shell having a top portion substantially parallel to said outer shell top portion and a side portion having a lower section, adjacent said pivotal axis, having a positive slope when said cover means is in said open position.

4. A cover assembly as in claim 3 wherein said lower section makes approximately a 5 angle with the horizontal when said cover means is in said open position.

5. A cover assembly as in claim 3 wherein insulating material is provided between said inner shell and said outer shell. 

1. A cover assembly for a railway tank car comprising: a. a tank having a manway therein; b. a cover means pivotally mounted, about a substantially horizontal axis, to said tank so as to permit said cover means to assume an open position allowing access to said manway and a closed position preventing access to said manway; c. said cover means being of generally inverted U-shaped cross section having a top portion and a side portion extending around the outer periphery of said top portion; d. said cover means when in said open position being disposed at an angle 90* or greater from said cover means when in said closed position; and e. said side portion having at least a portion having a positive slope when said cover means is in said open position thereby causing liquids to drain away from said cover means.
 2. A cover assembly as in claim 1 wherein said cover means is positioned with respect to said opening so as to prevent liquid from said cover means from entering said opening.
 3. A cover assembly as in claim 1 wherein said cover means includes an inner shell and an outer shell; said outer shell having a top portion and a side portion generally perpendicular to and disposed about the outer periphery of said top portion; said inner shell having a top portion substantially parallel to said outer shell top portion and a side portion having a lower section, adjacent said pivotal axis, having a positive slope when said cover means is in said open position.
 4. A cover assembly as in claim 3 wherein said lower section makes approximately a 5* angle with the horizontal when said cover means is in said open position.
 5. A cover assembly as in claim 3 wherein insulating material is provided between said inner shell and said outer shell. 